Skier dies after Sierra avalanche rescue

Authorities say a skier who was caught in an avalanche near a Northern California ski resort has died at the hospital.

Officials say 29-year-old Benjamin Brackett died late Thursday, hours after the Olympic Valley man was rescued.

The avalanche happened on back-country terrain south of Alpine Meadows Resort. A report from the Sierra Avalanche Center says Brackett had just started skiing shortly before 3 p.m. when he triggered an avalanche that dragged him down the slope.

The report says his partners used their avalanche beacons to find him wrapped around a tree buried beneath three feet of snow. It took them three minutes to dig him out.

Rescuers on snowmobiles reached the group around 4:20 p.m. and took Brackett to a Truckee hospital in critical condition.